All-electric pickup trucks, still right around the corner--but now weeks away instead of years

What everyone in Hawai`i knows is that electric vehicles wonʻt fully take off in the Islands until there are electric pickup trucks with plenty of range.

Okay, theyʻre here, or should be before the end of the month, and certainly before the end of the year, and more are coming.

Itʻs a big deal in Hawai`i, which annually sells twice as many light trucks as cars. And the number is growing. The Hawai`i Auto Dealers Association said the percentage of light trucks sold in the first half of this year compared to last year was up from 67.1 percent to 68.8 percent.

So when is the electric wave going to sweep into the truck category? Within weeks...or months...the record for meeting deadlines on electric trucks hasnʻt been great.

Hereʻs a rundown of whatʻs coming soonest.

Bollinger (seen above, from the company website) has a boxy electric pickup, its B2, under construction. Think a three-way cross between a Land Rover, a Jeep and a Hummer.

It should have  200-mile range, and more than 600 horsepower! Itʻs all aluminum and designed to last, and Bollinger says they plan for it to be the last truck youʻll ever need to buy. Their first model is promised any time now, maybe before the end of the month, although that deadline is approaching fast.

The Bollinger has an unconventional pickup truck look, and Tesla has also promised a different truck look. After that, most of the announced e-trucks look more conventional.

Elon Musk has promised the Tesla pickup will be—"most likely"—available by November this year. 

Thereʻs not much detail on the Tesla website, and Musk has said the design was still being tweaked just two months before his announced sale date. He has suggested a $49,000 sale price.   

There is the Rivian, a pickup truck with four-wheel-drive (electric motor on each wheel) and 400 plus miles of range. You can pre-order it, but you canʻt buy it yet. Maybe next year. The first one ought to start at $69,000.

A company called Atlis has a hot looking truck. Four-wheel-drive, 500 miles of range, but of course, you canʻt quite buy it yet. You can reserve one, and you can invest in the company. It might be on sale next year. One fun feature: cameras instead of mirrors.

Ford has said its all-electric F-150 will come maybe in 2021. And it is working with Volkswagen on a smaller electric pickup, maybe available in 2022. Ford has also invested in Rivian, so is there a Ford-branded Rivian in the future?

General Motors earlier this year said it will certainly have an electric pickup truck option when the market is ready for it. Within the past few days, it suggested it could have one on the market maybe as early as late in 2021, for the 2022 model year.

The United Auto Workers is currently on strike against GM, and the electric pickup is part of the negotiation. 

Several companies have released or are talking about hybrid pickups, but weʻre talking all-electric here.

© Jan TenBruggencate 2019